Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Great Grandma Lois (91 years!) and Great Grandpa Bob (80 years!). Josiah insisted on doing a special blog to show how much we love you both. In fact, he wanted to perform his newest trick in honor of your birthdays.

Auditory Cue: "Josiah! Open!"

Oooooh, that's one talented little man!

Thank you both for being in our lives. Grandma Lois, thank you for following our blog so loyally and for your interest in our lives. We love you guys! Happy Birthday to you both! xoxoxo

"We're" Pregnant!

...And then there were two. We didn't expect it. I took at least 7 pregnancy tests. Yep, we're having a second baby (there it is again, the singular 'we' - so useful in a marriage) and he/she is due in November. Our first two children will be a whopping 13 months apart! My mom has tagged it, the "Dethroning of Josiah." The event is "scheduled" to occur somewhere around November 2nd (...please please please not on Halloween!) and Ryan and I are sooo excited.

When I saw the faint line on the first of 7 pregnancy tests, my immediate reaction was giddiness. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. For those of you who think I'm crazy, hear me out. It was a moment where I got a glimpse into the fun, crazy, stressful at times, love-filled, future that God has planned out for us. It was like He was saying... "Here it is Camille! Surprise! The next step in your life story!"

This picture is graciously forgiving - maybe that's why I chose it? - I will post more pics where you can really tell I'm pregnant.

True, there have been a few things to process. Ryan is especially not looking forward to the lack of sleep again. I will have been pregnant for almost two years straight. I didn't get to do my half marathon, I haven't enjoyed a completely guilt-free cup of coffee or wine in years now. When we were trying for Josiah I was cutting back on both, and we tried for almost a year and a half before even getting pregnant the first time! I have pretty much said good bye to surfing - I miss the waves. And seriously, 4 weddings, 4 bachelorette parties, and 4 specially sized bridesmaids dresses for a watermelon belly!? Not to mention the fact that I will be carrying two babies around, one on each hip for a while. You should know, that even as I list these things, I am laughing inside. Laughing because I will have two crazy babies to love. Laughing because of the joy two close siblings will bring. Laughing because this will only be a few years of chaos to fondly look back on. And mostly, laughing because in all this, I deeply feel God's rich blessings in our lives.

Growing Season

Tomatoes, sugar snap peas, green beans, beets (oops, wrong season, we're still learning), basil, peppers... babies aren't the only things we've been growing around here! While both Ryan and I are "growing" Josiah, I find myself using the singular "we" quite frequently. For example, "we" are digging holes and pouring concrete for the fencing around the garden, and "we" are tilling for a blackberry patch. "We" built two great compost bins and "we" chipped the mortar off of some 300 bricks so we could get them out of the side yard. "We" have put in an excellent irrigation system and "we" will be replacing the broken garage door at some time in the near future.

However, I won't sell myself short by acknowledging that I have been known to do my fair share of heavy yard work. Not to mention the fact that I am so excited about the sunflowers, daliahs, strawberries, bush beans, cilantro, pumpkins and melons that have fallen almost exclusively to my care ("we" have not put in the watering system for those ones yet, so I water them by hand). Needless to say, we are so thankful to have each other and we are definitely getting things done this growing season.

He wasn't too sure about the dirt at first...

However, it didn't take long before he couldn't get enough, grabbing dirt and throwing it around.

Pretty soon he was mostly just annoyed because mom wouldn't let him chew on rocks with those two new teeth he has!

I had to put these last, mismatched pictures. My sister Terra and I had a fun c0-birthday -day. Her birthday was June 8th, and mine was May 4th. To celebrate, we spent the day together. We went and got coffee first thing in the morning, then went on a long walk on the beach. Next, we headed to a little coffee shop, ordered a fun brunch to go, and ate it picnic style on the cliffs overlooking the ocean in Shell Beach. Then we went back to Terra's house where Ryan watched the little man while Terra and I got pedicures. Thank you Terra, for such a great day, and Andrea, I miss you and can't wait to have you to myself a few times this summer! I love you both so much!